This summer, strapless sandals with pointed toes are the hottest footwear among young women. BACK TO THE EIGHTIES: Retro Items Spicing Up Fashion in the New Century July 25, 2001 Styles from the 1980s are in. The fads in colors, patterns, and designs are said to revolve in a 20-year cycle, and sure enough, the fashion world at the start of the new century seems to have time traveled backward by two decades. This retrospective tendency is particularly apparent in footwear and belts. Foot Fashion Revamped Pumps with pointed toes have come back to the cities. High heels with sharply tapered toes, along with squarish jackets and suits lined with shoulder pads, were the hallmark of the career women of the 1980s, who were just beginning to gain prominent positions in society. Today's women, by contrast, regard pointed shoes as a spice that gives one's usual fashion a smarter or cuter look. They are not the most functional shoes, having tapered ends that extend well beyond the toes. Nevertheless, they are enjoying attention as a retro fashion, particularly those with ribbons and flower ornaments. The key is to wear them with denims, t-shirts, and other casual clothes, rather than with business suits. Heading into summer, sandals and other types of footwear that expose much of the feet have gained force. Central among them are mules--sandals without ankle or heel straps. Such shoes used to be known as tsukkake (slip-on) sandals and were not associated with fashion, having been worn solely for practical purposes, such as when shopping at the local grocer. Today, though, the reincarnated mules comprise no small portion of the sandals sold in stores: At one Tokyo shoe store popular among young women, some 30% of the sandals are mules. When mules first began to catch on, women wearing them to work or to first-rate restaurants were often frowned upon. But they have since gained broad acceptance, and many now find them acceptable--depending on the design--even for weddings and other highly formal occasions. Mules are favored by women ranging from teenagers to those in their forties, who cite such reasons as, "They're easy to slip on and to take off," and, "They make your legs look pretty."   Your Name What did you think of this article? It was interesting. It was boring. Send this article to a friend Magical Belts The belt is also enjoying a revival as a fashion item. From thin chain types to leather or fabric belts five centimeters (two inches) wide, from plain colors to pastels and flashy prints, the variations are virtually endless. Particularly eye-catching are extra-wide gold belts--vintage eighties, yet new to today's young women. Even with clothes bought last year, combining them with any of these belts makes the wearer appear up-to-date. Old-fashioned hip-hugging jeans are among the favorite styles to go with belts. And sunglasses, too, are going retro: The narrow types with small lenses that were the mainstream until last year have given way to sunglasses with large lenses, commonly tinted pink or purple. In short, the hippest style this summer appears to be a retro look complete with a wide belt worn over hip-hugger jeans, pointed mules, and large colored-lens sunglasses. Copyright (c) 2001 Japan Information Network. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.